Special Thanks to Tommy: George & Gracie’s Landlord

IMPORTANT: Messages from osprey experts

Rob Bierregaard July 1, 2015 at 7:24 am
I haven’t seen the little guy yet this morning, but I would be very surprised if he survived the night. That sure was tough to watch yesterday, but that whole process is as much a part of the essence of being an Osprey as is eating a fish. It’s part of the life of Ospreys that was rarely seen before we started putting cameras in nests. As hard as it is, we should not label the behavior as mean or cruel. Being mean or cruel implies that there is intent to do harm just for harm’s sake. Those young were responding to a set of stimuli (very little food being delivered to the nest and the presence of a very small young) in a way that evolution has hard-wired into them. It helps ensure their survival. Nature is not cruel. It is harsh, unforgiving, and often random (had the little guy been born 1st, he would have been just as aggressive as was his sibling), but not cruel or mean.

Paul Henry ospreyzone July 1, 2015 at 8:17 am
Thanks Rob for bringing your knowledge and experience to help us all gain perspective here. We are all saddened by the events that unfolded before our eyes and it’s only natural for all of us to feel and express our emotions appropriately. There have been many issues pertaining to intervention which have been discussed amongst us all. There is no doubt in my mind that the right decision was made, to let nature take it’s course. By the way, that doesn’t equate to heartless, on the contrary, nobody feels worse about this then the apparent decision makers. I say apparent, because when all was said and done, and all the issues were properly weighed, there really weren’t any other options. It was clearly pointed out, by experts, that intervening at this stage could have spooked the whole nest to the point of losing all the young. If the little one was saved, and nursed back to health, what kind of a life would it have had, perhaps caged up in a zoo. I remember when I was younger I saw a golden eagle in captivity, caged behind a wire mesh. I could practically see it’s tears. As far as placing the little one in another nest, such a low probability of success would never have justified the possibility of spooking the nest. There’s a piece of me, however heavy hearted, that believes that perhaps it is better to be born free and die free. We mourn for the little one as we marvel at the wonders of nature.

Reprinted with the permission of John W. Fitzpatrick, Executive Director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Hello Paul,

Thanks for your query, and you have my admiration for persevering. We know very well how tough your job is, including dealing with an anxious public.

Our policy with our Bird Cams project is essentially “just say no” to pleas for interference. The behavior you are witnessing – while seemingly cruel and heartless to us – is natural for many kinds of birds, especially those that feed on variable, unpredictable food supplies. The little nestling does have a chance to survive, but if it does not then that result was “meant to be” by the nature of Osprey breeding strategy. The wonderful things about these nest cameras also sometimes yield the difficult things for us to watch. As you might know, we actually post a “siblicide alert” on some of our cams where we suspect the possibility exists.

I’m copying your note to Charles Eldermire, project leader for our Bird Cams. He may have some additional comments, and he would be the one to ask if we might be able to use your stored files for biological analysis.

It’s also important to acknowledge that intervening can also cause problems of its own—depending on the ages of the birds in the nest, disturbing them can trigger an early fledge. We have restricted the scenarios in which we would even consider intervening to injuries or dangers that are explicitly human-derived. For example, 3 or 4 years ago we were alerted by viewers that one of the osprey chicks at the Hellgate Osprey nest was entangled in monofilament line. We consulted with our partners there (wildlife biologists, raptor researchers, raptor rehabbers) to determine if the monofilament was an issue, and if intervening was both likely to solve the issue AND not have bad effects on the other nestlings. In the end, a quick trip to the nest was scheduled via a bucket truck, the monofilament was removed, and the nestlings all eventually fledged. In that case, all of the permits were already in hand to be studying the ospreys, and we had already discussed how to approach issues in the nest.

I’ve been to your site—great cam! And I noticed the runt in the nest. This is just normal Osprey reproduction. It happens all the time and you should not intervene. It’s tough to watch, but it’s how nature works. Ospreys almost always lay 3 eggs and on average fledge between 1 and 1.5 young each year. They stagger the hatch so there is a spread of ages in the young. That way, if food is short, the first-hatched (and therefore largest) will get enough food to survive while the smaller nest mates do not. If all three young were the same size and there was only enough food for 1 young, none of the young would get enough food and they would all die. If there’s lots of food, the smallest will eventually get fed and can survive. These nest cams can show some gut-wrenching scenes. The most infamous perhaps was one of the very first Osprey cams (on Long Island somewhere), where the smallest young died. One of the adults carried it out of the nest and after several minutes flew back into the nest and fed it to the other young. Waste-not-want-not at its goriest. At Hog Island up in Maine just last week a Bald Eagle came in and took the young out of the nest. Last year at another nest, cameras documented a Great-horned Owl taking young Ospreys out of a nest in NJ or MD. All of these things have been going on for millions of years and Ospreys are doing fine.

25,323 Comments

And as if Gracie hasn’t been through enough already George flies in with a stick and basically dropped it right on her. As he’s trying to arrange it, he’s stepping on her and she finally just takes the stick and moves it over to the side….which is when George then noticed the egg. So cute and funny too.

Yeeaahh!! Am egg-stremely egg-cited and egg-static to report that at egg-xactly 8:51 Am our egg-ceptional Gracie laid an egg. Both she and the egg appear to be in egg-cellent condition. Now, if you’ll egg-scuse me, I need to get an egg-spresso because I’m egg-hausted. Please forgive me if I over egg-spressed myself, I hope you’re not egg-sasperated with me!

Hi, Understood and agreed, something needs to change as we move forward and try to maintain timely commentary. I’ve been out of the country all winter and am back now for the spring, summer and fall. As things pick up, it’s been hard to keep up with all the comments etc. One of the problems is that we get a tremendous amount of spam that needs to be trashed, in fact more spam then real commentary. There has also been some commentary from regular users which needed to be discarded for various reasons. We are looking for another solution to moderate and have received several good ideas which will be explored. It’s hard to be “on top” of the comments everyday, all day, as we all have lives other than Ospreyzone and it does take time and effort to read the hundreds of comments that are coming in. Additionally, I would ask that this space be dedicated specifically to Ospreyzone, as I find it frustrating to have to take the time to moderate commentary concerning other cams. In the next couple of weeks we will be reviewing our plans going forward and trying to figure out how to sustain in a manageable way. There are lots of things that we would like to do with all the footage we’ve collected and would love to find an experienced editor/volunteer/intern this summer who might be interested in some projects we are planning to do with last years and this years footage. So if you know any candidates please share.

I think we all agree that this has been an amazing and valuable experience for everyone, the good, the bad and even the ugly. I especially have enjoyed bringing George and Gracie into your lives, it has been a pleasure and a privilege. What started out as just a fun little project really turned into something unexpected. We built a loving community around George and Gracie. Entertainment has always been about making people feel, sometimes happy, sometimes sad, but by design, Ospreyzone was always intended to present a window into nature, the real world, however beautiful or cruel and harsh it could be. There is no doubt in my mind that we have all gained so much from sharing George and Gracie’s world and I want to thank all of you who have really made all our efforts worthwhile.

I am familiar with those boards (SWFEC) you describe; I have to say they are really difficult to follow, especially if the number of chatters is high. I quit trying to follow the conversations as it went so fast and was difficult to match a reply to a previous comment. I like this board (an improved version would be great) and the Explore chat boards…so easy to follow.

Thanks for all that Tucker. All the films from my East End Student Film Project can be viewed at eesfp.org. My favorite as well, “Help Wanted”, a claymation project viewable on the front page. Some 60 kids ages 10 to 20 worked on it in our summer filmmaking program.

HI There! Thank you for this beautiful cam! Myself and other chatters on other sites can’t seem to figure out how to *chat* on this site. We see that you can reply to anyone, but how do you start a new conversation please? Thank you for your help as there are many people who come to your site who would like to become part of your community in the chat area. …and maybe this will start a new conversation when I hit enter?? Kind Regards, BeckyBear

I would add that we will be implementing a new comments platform, hopefully this week, which should make for a much better experience. We would love to have a real time comment section that enabled our viewers to chat and post videos and images etc. One of the problems is that we have been getting much more spam than real comments lately and don’t want to fill up these pages with trash. So stand by, change is good, we hope.

5:40amEDT 4/25/16 Gracie has been in nest since about 4:40..George dropped in about 5:20ish, did his dance, mated and went out. First seaweed delivery 6-7 mins ago @ 5:40ish…..
The water looks like glass as the sink starts to creep in with the sun to the east…
And a double clawful of reeds and weed at 5:55..George is off to another busy day…..And currently, no comments since 5 Sat. afternoon…

Looks like it has been a beautiful day on the North Fork! I’ve had to scroll back to check on the days activities, and again it looks like lots of nest construction is still going on. Mostly George, but Gracie brought in a nice large piece of black plastic that must have been stuck to her talon, as it disappeared when she flew off. George brought her a nice size whole fish about 5:45, which she promptly flew off with. George left the nest soon after, then Gracie returned fishless about 5 minutes later. I’m assuming that she dropped it, because George showed up with more seaweed a few minutes later. But being the gentleman he is, he brought her another large fish about 7:20, which she must have successfully devoured, for it was about 50 minutes before she came back to the nest. This is encouraging that the supply of fish is good, and that George is willing to go get more so soon after delivering one earlier. Maybe Gracie was just testing him! They definitely appear to be in hurry up mode on getting the nest ready for eggs, with the more constant work on it. Hope we have their first egg soon. I’m getting anxious for that phase to begin!!

Aidan, first of all I want to say I think most of us love OZ, I know I do. I don’t mean to complain and be a pita and we don’t know how OZ’s moderating system works, but it defeats the purpose in letting other viewers know when something interesting is happening or just happened when our comments appear hours or even days later. Is there anything we can do to help speed up the process so our comments appear in a timely manner?

Hi, Understood and agreed, something needs to change as we move forward and try to maintain timely commentary. I’ve been out of the country all winter and am back now for the spring, summer and fall. As things pick up, it’s been hard to keep up with all the comments etc. One of the problems is that we get a tremendous amount of spam that needs to be trashed, in fact more spam then real commentary. There has also been some commentary from regular users which needed to be discarded for various reasons. We are looking for another solution to moderate and have received several good ideas which will be explored. It’s hard to be “on top” of the comments everyday, all day, as we all have lives other than Ospreyzone and it does take time and effort to read the hundreds of comments that are coming in. Additionally, I would ask that this space be dedicated specifically to Ospreyzone, as I find it frustrating to have to take the time to moderate commentary concerning other cams. In the next couple of weeks we will be reviewing our plans going forward and trying to figure out how to sustain in a manageable way. There are lots of things that we would like to do with all the footage we’ve collected and would love to find an experienced editor/volunteer/intern this summer who might be interested in some projects we are planning to do with last years and this years footage. So if you know any candidates please share.

I think we all agree that this has been an amazing and valuable experience for everyone, the good, the bad and even the ugly. I especially have enjoyed bringing George and Gracie into your lives, it has been a pleasure and a privilege. What started out as just a fun little project really turned into something unexpected. We built a loving community around George and Gracie. Entertainment has always been about making people feel, sometimes happy, sometimes sad, but by design, Ospreyzone was always intended to present a window into nature, the real world, however beautiful or cruel and harsh it could be. There is no doubt in my mind that we have all gained so much from sharing George and Gracie’s world and I want to thank all of you who have really made all our efforts worthwhile.

Aidan: Wow, I never realized (or even thought of, actually) the challenges of running a website and that the site gets hundreds of comments, including spam! And, I want to say I’m sorry – I have been guilty of commentary concerning other cams. I don’t have a ton of time, but I would love to volunteer some time to moderate comments!

I appreciate all you and everyone has done to make this a memorable site. several features make this theBEST site to follow. I have been guilty of comparing and sharing about other sites and will try to reign in those comments. THANKS TO ALL who work so hard for us…….

@2:45pmEDT4/24/16 George brought in a fish nd no Gracie around..It’s now 3:45 and the fish is still there ..I saw Geo go up to perch and I hear him up there still. Wait..he dropped down about 3:48 and took the fish…and Now Gracie comes home….dirty stay-out lost lunch…..

Just scrolling back: Today, so far, Gracie really wanted us to see her beautiful feathers and beautiful face, so we don’t confuse her with George! We also got really close-up views to see the mechanics of osprey copulation. 🙂 George was busy, busy, busy as he brought branches (and wrestled at times with them!) and seaweed and stuff to the nest and brought fish for Gracie. At about 11 am, some kind of large insect (butterfly?, are they out yet?) fluttered around near her face; it was hysterical to watch her head bobble and beak open and close as she watched it.

I don’t know about anybody else, but I cannot find anywhere to TYPE a comment. I have looked high and low and cannot find where to comment. The only way for me to write THIS comment was to reply to you.

Randi: All you have to do is go way down to the bottom of the page to the box under “Leave A Comment,” just type in your comment, put in the name you want shown and your email address in their respective boxes (email won’t show up in post), and hit post comment and your comment will come up free-standing. Check the boxes “Notify me of follow-up comments by email” and/or “Notify me of new posts by email” if you want (I don’t) and you’re all set.

I’ve been reading the comments from last year (I didn’t discover Osprey Zone until shortly before Ronnie and Sandy fledged). I am awestruck by the observations and insights and passion, the humor and wit. Makes me think of “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.” – Edward Everett Hale

5:15amEDT 4/24/16 George came in followed a min or so later by Gracie..he did his little greeting dance for her, which I love watching…Some seaweed action and then an early morning fish at 6:10am…and she’s off…Geo did some posing for the camera and some work on the nest..we got a nice fantail shot as he worked on eggcup..ins and outs with more work..
Busy sparrow was in about 7:15 and trying to steal a great big wad of grasses..looked like he saw the landlord heading in and scarpered….
George brought in more sticks and does some rearranging,,….after she got whacked a few times, Gra took off….

April 24- George and Gracie arrive at nest moments apart. Mating and various forms of nest building continue. George is really working hard on the nest and Gracie is definitely decorating it to her liking. Good for her!!

George landed on the nest at about 5:15 AM. About a minute or two later, someone did a fly-by – you could SEE the other osprey on camera fly over the nest! Kinda reminded me of that fly-by scene in “Top Gun” when Maverick (Tom Cruise) buzzes the tower! Then Gracie hopped down off the perch. Well, while George is off to go shopping for home improvement supplies and breakfast, I’m off to go grocery shopping!

April 24- Is there any way we can get the comments section updated on a regular basis? It’s very frustrating to post information that I think might interest others and not see it posted on the date it was left. Maybe update the comments section twice daily, especially now that we are expecting eggs (well, Gracie is)
Thanks 🙂

CarolV: Visited Lake District Osprey Project site – notice says webcam is not working while they are overhauling the system. Read those posts you mentioned and also the Chesapeake post about the plastic.

I’m glad/mad we’re not the only ones with the plastic bag nightmare! Glad, in a way, that the US isn’t the only place with thoughtless and uncaring people who just let their garbage blow around and mad that the US isn’t the only place with thoughtless and uncaring people who just let their garbage blow around – that apparently it’s widespread. At least the wildlife viewed on the cams can be seen when they run into trouble and afforded the opportunity to be rescued; how many countless others are not given such luxury? I appreciated that the stories were told in a humorous way without detracting from the seriousness of the situations.

10:01pm LISA..did anyone get back to you on posting your own comments? Scroll to the very bottom of the page…LEAVE A COMMENT section. Make sure you fill in the 3 thin boxes..website is of course OSPREYZONE.COM…You probably have to fill these each time you log in and want to comment. always check…If you want e-mailed comments, check the two boxes below blue box. Hit POST COMMENT>>>Hopefully you will show up as your own post…you may nhave noticed that Betsy and I have been discussing missing posts..
If you check the notify me boxes, you should get an e-mail instructing you to SUBSCrIBE Follow those instructions and you should get comments thru e-mail as well as follow them on the LIVE FEED pages…good luck…I guess it’sthe same as when you hit REPLY under other peoples comments ‘ just starting on your own..would have been so much shorter explanation if I thought of that first!!!!!

Lisa: Sometimes they take a while to post and you’ll see “your comment is awaiting moderation” message. This last time it took about 2 days to see posts! See Gamma Carolyn’s post dated April 22, 2016 10:49 am.

Lisa, Thats the way this site is. It’s not really a chat just a place to make comments that may not be seen for a few days. Sad , because it could be a great site to interact with others and maybe see things that are being missed.

Lots of nest material being brought in today by George. He started early and has been at it most of the day. Didn’t catch when he brought Gracie breakfast, but he brought her a very nice size fish for lunch around 12:35. They both have been rearranging the sticks and grass, and George has bopped Gracie in the rear several times bringing in more medium size branches. Hopefully we will have an egg in the nest soon!!

Leanne: There’s a great post on Chesapeake Conservancy that has some info related to this topic: “…Dr. Spitzer said it is possible that the mysterious stranger is a returned young from a previous year, since this is the current Audrey’s seventh season with us. According to Dr. Spitzer, we know very little about that possibility because there have not been enough banding studies conducted to be sure. He speculated that because Audrey has been tolerating the visitor so well, a returned offspring could be here….” https://ospreycamerablog.wordpress.com/2016/03/28/a-real-head-scratcher/

I love to watch George smoosh down the nest to make sure it is soft. He didn’t need to bring up the black plastic seed/plant container, but I think Gracie will do away with it when she comes back. Saturday, 4/23/11:00AM

6:25amEDT 4/23/16 GM Everyone…Gracie dropped in to nest around 5:45 with George flying in to the perch right after…it’s a rainy, gray day on the Island..at least temp is about 57, with promise of clearing by noon….Comments are backed up..I unsubscribed to e-mails because they just got too confusing to follow on the phone…maybe I’ll try again and see if I can figure things out to make sense………….Double clawful of grasses brought in by George about 6:10..Gracie is silent and just in waiting mode..George did some loud chirping, maybe challenge to an unseen fly-by…….off to work for me…

I realized when I read over my post that I was a little confusing (of course, after I had already hit post comment button!), so I edited it slightly for clarification: I also found comments in the “Highlights” section itself and on each of the highlights video pages that didn’t seem to pertain to that particular video but seemed to be comments pertaining to the person’s observations of what she/he had viewed on the live feed and I found comments on the “About”, “Everything Osprey”, and “Press” pages also not relating to those various pages. So, if anyone’s comments seem to be missing, maybe they are posted on one of the other sections on this site (although I have noticed that some of my comments truly are missing, as is the person’s who I was referring to above). I would think that this is a glitch and not by design.

A suggestion for this site that jumps out at me after this is an Edit Button!

7:16pmEDT 4/23/16 Funny, I was checking something out on “get in the zone” page and saw recent posts from “Catherine and was gonna give her heads up to jon us on this page ! I’ll have to check others. I’m pretty sure my posting was on” live feed” page cause I already knew things are posted to the page we reply on. So thanks for the heads up….I’ll have to check around.

CarolV: Remember when you posted on April 19th that you noticed some of the other comments you had made hadn’t shown up and you were chalking it up to your “techlessness”? And I responded, half-jokingly and half-seriously, that the site eats them? Well, tonight I decided to view comments starting on the first page (I see a lot of people are return viewers, BTW!). Lo and behold, I found a at the bottom of that page a post of yours from April 20, 2016 regarding your missing posts (CarolV April 20, 2016 at 7:40 pm – Reply 7:34pm…just wanted to add…of my missing posts, I had said thank you to all who filled me in about the egg-event at ChesCon…I,. sadly, am still Facebook resistant…drives my sisters nuts….I did watch ChesCon site last year but didn’t start till the kids were almost fledged and ET was moving in her luggage….It was a wonderful story and the acceptance of the boarder just made it better….)

And I found one of mine from April 19, 2016 in reply to someone who all I remember of went by 4 initials in caps and had commented that he/she differentiated George and Gracie by their eye stripes.

I also found comments in the “Highlights” section on each of the highlights video pages that didn’t seem to pertain to that particular video but seemed to be comments pertaining to the person’s observations of what she/he had viewed on the live feed, and I found comments re same as above on the “About”, Everything Osprey”, and “Press” pages. So, if your comments seem to be missing, maybe they are posted on one of the other sections on this site (although I have noticed that some of my comments truly are missing). I would think that this is a glitch and not by design.

So, Aidan, if you are the tech guy and if you are reading this, can this be fixed?

Just got back from doing errands all morning. Don’t see any comments posted since yesterday afternoon. Scrolled back 4 hours (to what would be about 10:15 AM) to catch up – the nest looks like a whirlwind went through it!!

12:19pmEDT 4/22/16 About 12:10 or so..poor exhausted Geo was taking a bird-nap, when Gra decided she wasn’t happywith that plastic…she was tugging at it then” grumbling’ at it till his eyes popped open..she looked at him as if he should do something..when he went back to napping, she waddled over in front of him to get his attention…got him moving, all right..OUT

CarolV: The huge strip of plastic on the left side that’s draped over and under branches? It must really really be annoying her — she was back on the nest about 8:15 PM tonight when it was nearly dark yanking with all her might on it!

9:56amEDT 4/22/16 Nestorations continue…@9:45 George demonstates some of the interesting shapes scrubpine branches come in…about 9:50..Gracie felt the need to get her own addition..guess what? I would love to be below when that osprey flies over with a banner streaming behind her!!!

8:04amEDT George is making lots of trips with new furnishings..reeds, seaweed, small sticks..and did the chest waddle move to work on “egg cup”..no breakfast that I’ve seen but Gracie isn’t complaining….

OK, guys, we have to get up earlier than we thought! I am an EARLY BIRD, and I love scrolling back to watch the sun rising over the water. I scrolled way back – apparently, at about 3 AM, Gracie DECIDED TO CHECK the nest. She stayed for about 6 minutes until she MADE SURE it was secure. George landed on nest a few minutes before 5:30 AM, staying for a couple of minutes, shaking his wings at someone overhead, TELLING it don’t come ’round here no more, no more, then George flew off and circled around to land on the perch – maybe to rest ?, KNOWING he had a hard days’ work ahead of him. Gracie landed on nest after George came back to perch, and WISHED she had made up a shopping list for George. George then was in and out, in and out, working hard. The sun coming up made the clouds a beautiful peachy-pink and the water was a gorgeous silvery-gray.

6:45amEDT 4/22/2016 Looked like George stopped in about 5:30 and did a greeting dance , watched a boat going out,then took off… Gracie dropped from perch, did a lap, then came in to nest. A little before 6, Geo came back to rearrange furniture…they had a quickie, watched the sunrise together and he went off to work…beautiful sunrise btw….

8::17pm 4/21/16 Another beautiful moonrise..I have more time at home to see the nest at night than ospreywatch!!! So this camera angle serves double duty!! Thought it was going to be overcast, so I’m happy we get to see the light of the full moon!
BETSY..thanks for heads up on CCcam Audrey….You might enjoy the site for the Lake District Osprey Project GB,,I thought I had posted it but I don’t see it..The camera was down when I checked it, but there were a lot of interesting posts, especially ” Two Eggs Don’t Genoa” and “Third Egg”

A lot of nest touching up going on today. George has brought in a variety of medium sticks and seaweed, and doing a good job of getting the space ready for eggs. About 11 a.m. George brought a HUGE headless fish to Gracie. I can only imagine how large that thing was before George devoured some of it! Gracie took it and flew off to eat her portion, then brought a small bit back to the nest and actually shared it with George. Didn’t see any of the “intruder” drama today, but sure hoping that he finds a new area to hang out in.

Lisa: All you have to do is go down to the bottom of the page to the box under “Leave A Comment,” type in what you want, put in the name you want to shown (I guess Lisa 🙂 ) and email address, and hit post comment and your comment will come up free-standing. Check the boxes “Notify me of follow-up comments by email” and/or “Notify me of new posts by email” if you want (I don’t) and you’re all set. Welcome to Osprey Zone!

No I do not receive any e-mails from this site. I don’t run Windows, I have a Mac, same as I did last year and had no problems then. This site really doesn’t seem to have a real moderator . I’m not going to worry about it. Seems like what ever gets posted can take at times up to 2 days to show up. I think it may depend on the time of day or day of the week. I can still watch and comment to myself. It’s probably safer that way. I can’t get mad at myself :)))

I don’t mean to be mean but everyone needs to remember that osprey are not brain surgeons (actually I’ve met some brain surgeons who weren’t that bright, either).We have a pair down here in Florida who keep insisting on building their nest on the traffic light on the drawbridge. It keeps getting torn down and they keep re-building it even though they have so many good places to build one of their messy nests which always seem to include things that are dangerous to them. Please believe me when I say I love all these birds but I cannot and will not anthropomorphize them to to the point that I consider them any more than birdbrains because that is what they are. We (humans) are a little beyond them I think but not too much, especially in terms of getting along.

Bob: We all know ospreys are not feathered human beings. I believe that when people watch animal cams, they can develop a better understanding of animals and a better awareness of our relationship to them and the environment. And, if ascribing one iota of human characteristics to the animals helps people to create a bond with and to appreciate animals, well, all the better. Because, after all, it’s humans who are destroying wildlife and the planet, which will ultimately lead to the destruction of humankind. Heck, reputable preservation and conservation web cam sites give human names to animals – isn’t that a form of anthropomorphism? And, in fact, Audubon had a review of Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel, by Carl Safina, Henry Holt and Company (https://www.audubon.org/news/carl-safina-makes-case-anthropomorphism).

Personally, I love reading people’s comments and observations.And I find the links people add interesting and informative.

Oh, for Pete’s sake!!!!! Just opened OZ and saw Gracie standing in nest next to this huge piece of plastic. Scrolled back about 3 hours … can’t believe my eyes! Gracie must have found that HUGE sheet of plastic that was stuck on her talon when she flew out of the nest yesterday afternoon!! (“Yeeeaaahh, the plastic that I dropped yesterday! I thought I’d lost it forever!”)

Regarding the ribbon…
I tried to post a link to the plight of a local osprey who was caught in that same type of balloon ribbon and had to be rescued. Last year we tried to start an awareness campaign on the dangers of fishing line and balloons and other debris left on beaches and tossed in the water.
I am personally still working on it.
Try to tell people not to send off balloons into the sky- they have to land somewhere and a sea creature usually finds it- suffering terribly because of it.
I don’t know why my post was removed, the photo showed an osprey tangled in the ribbon- but she was rescued and is safe and back on her nest. Thankfully, this one had a happy ending.

GinaM: Comments seemed to a while to post today, so I’m just seeing your comment now. I agree with you 1000% about balloons being released. It’s really a shame that people don’t seem to know, or care, about the dangers posed to wildlife when balloons are released. I googled what you said about a local bird and this is what I got (I hope this is what you were trying to link and that you don’t mind that I took the liberty of posting link): http://patch.com/new-york/huntington/firefighters-rescue-baby-osprey-lloyd-harbor-0

I’m seeing only George and Gracie (and sparrows) on nest. Went back to about that time (from before Gracie flew off with ribbon and for the next 1/2 hour until drama scene), saw George in nest messing with his seaweed, Gracie returned with her fish, then George hollering up at someone who must have followed Gracie home, then George and Gracie tussling over fish (George won), George taking off with fish and then returning with fish, then Gracie flying away with ribbon and George in and out, continuing with his “nestorations.” Gracie came back to supervise George, but he wanted to fool around, and she said “NOT NOW, GEORGE, YOU HAVE TO FINISH THE NURSERY!! … OMG, GEORGE, SOMEONE’S COMING” Then, it looked like an intruder came near the nest and both George and Gracie worked to fend him off, with George flying off after him (and Gracie screaming at the intruder, “DON’T EVER COME BACK, MISTER!” The End.

PS: Before the nest drama, Gracie flew out of the nest with ribbon wrapped around both talons, came back after about 20 minutes – no ribbon. Human someone: find that ribbon and hide it deep, deep, deep in the bottom of the trash!!

At just before 11 am George brought in the headless fish. Gracie hooked it and flew off. George began to repair nest, then lay down on his chest and used his claws to push material away from the center of the nest, deepening the egg pocket.

A lot of nest work going on already this morning. A little before 6:30 6:30 George brought Gracie a nice hunk of fish, which she flew away with to eat. She returned a bit later with some of the fish, and shared it with George. So sweet. They are definitely busy getting the nest ready for eggs. so interesting how George knows what to bring to fill in the gaps!

At about 6:30 AM, when Gracie went to fly away with the fish George had brought her, her talon got snagged on that #$@&%*! ribbon. OK, so, if surgeons can perform remote robotic surgery, why can’t a robotic system be invented to attach along with the video cameras to remove hazardous things from nests??!!

7:33amEDT I see that about 7ish Gracie took off with the lovely ribbon stuck onn her foot…so much for decor..glad to see it go..it was long and dangerous……about 7:20-7:25..I thought it was George who brought in a scraggly root and was arranging it , when Gra arrived, looked around, then attacked the other bird…..both flew out but within minutes two birds were back in the nest..anyone else seethat?

I saw that too and I do think it was George she was fighting with. Not sure what prompted it as they had been sitting in nest for a short time before they fought. I would have thought that had it been another male she would have attacked it right when she landed but she didnt. Markings looked like George too. Lovers spat I guess.

Gracie first around 5:15 then George right after. It is getting earlier and earlier..George brought headless fish around 6:30. if u go back couple of minutes before you can see George fly underneath nest with whole fish.

6:61amEDT Breakfast arrives..good sized headless fish…Gracie is off, tripping on that lovely ribbon..balloon leftover? We taked about the dangers of balloons last year, but more in the line of the latex remains,,barely thought about the ribbons…

5:30am here in Greenport. I just saw something very weird. Has nothing to do with G & G. I have some opsrey’s that circle my house ever afternoon. Well, I was just outside and it appeared that one got caught in a wind tunnel of some sort. He just kept going higher and higher and was screaming. He just kinda floated with the one and only cloud outside at the moment. Very scary. Hope he is ok. Was wondering if that is possible and if anyone else has seen anything like that. Thanks in advance!

Tora: I was scrolling back through the comments when your post from a week ago about Iris from the Hellgate nest caught my eye. (Not a site I’m familiar with; guess I’ll have add it to my list of sites to visit!) Went to their Facebook page and saw that Stanley, her mate, “has always returned a couple of weeks after Iris”. Saw Hellgate Osprey ‏@HellgateOsprey tweeted: “When does Stanley usually arrive? A: Arrival dates: 2012-May 6th, 2013-May 3rd, 2014-April 27th, and 2015- April 21st.” Please keep us updated.

Around 8 PM tonight something beautiful happened between George and Gracie..They where sitting at nest edge when they looked at each other and George went over and kissed Gracie’s beak …Rejonal was watching site the moment it happened..priceless pictures…Thank you Rejonal

Oops, make the Gracie plastic time about 6:15-ish PM. George came back nest alone about 1/2 hour later. Then Gracie came back to nest with George about 7:50-ish to see the moonrise that CarolV was talking about! 🙂

At about 5:45 PM, it was Gracie’s turn to fly out of the nest with plastic stuck on her talon and back a couple of minutes later with … I’ll give you all one guess! Then, she’s off again a couple of minutes later, apparently for the night, with, yes, it’s true, THE PLASTIC!! I hope I don’t still see it when she returns in the AM.

7:34pm…just wanted to add…of my missing posts, I had said thank you to all who filled me in about the egg-event at ChesCon…I,. sadly, am still Facebook resistant…drives my sisters nuts….I did watch ChesCon site last year but didn’t start till the kids were almost fledged and ET was moving in her luggage….It was a wonderful story and the acceptance of the boarder just made it better….

2 PM-ish Gracie sneezed twice in succession, then less than a minute later sneezed again. (I don’t believe I’ve ever heard a bird sneeze before this!) Allergic to bringing seaweed to the nest instead of plastic?
Gracie is one strong and determined chick (pun intended) – she really tugged and tugged on a large clump of seaweed to pull it out from under what was apparently 500 pounds of sticks that George had been placing in that area. (Shortly after the sneezing.)
The nest is really looking great. He and Gracie were really “active” today; I guess he wants to be sure all his effort and hard work don’t go for naught!!

George has really been a busy dad today bring in sticks and seaweed. At 3:10 Gracie was in the nest intently staring at something, then starting squawking at it as an osprey did a fly by. George was right behind it and landed on the nest beside Gracie, and then took off in the same direction that the intruder went. After bringing in more nesting material he delivered a nice big fish to Gracie at 3:25, or close to that, which she promptly took and flew off to eat. George continued nesting duties, as did Gracie after returning to the nest after her meal. I love watching George place a stick somewhere, then Gracie in turn moves it somewhere else. Some of the “sticks” George has brought today have been quite large, and Gracie has all but thrown a couple of them over the side!! Won’t be long now till we should have eggs in the nest. Several dozen if were up to the number of times they have mated!!!!!

Scrolled back to see what episodes I missed: At about 10 AM, Gracie brought back a curling ribbon … to gift-wrap the eggs? (She must like purdy 🙂 & shiny things.) Then at about 1:10 PM, George flew out of the nest, taking the ribbon with him. But, guess what, just like with the plastic yesterday, he returned to the nest after about 6 or 7 minutes with that darn ribbon still stuck on his talon(!!), which he didn’t take with him the next time he left the nest, 7 or 8 minutes later. Good one for the highlights: at about 1:30 PM, George returned to the nest with a large divining rod-like stick (I don’t know why, there’s all that water around!!). Then, he started fussing with another large stick, picking it up and stumbling around the nest a bit before flipping his head and nearly whacking Gracie with the stick. Then, as he was trying to move the stick into position, Gracie was standing on it (I guess she didn’t want to get almost whacked again!). Finally she stepped off the branch and out of the way.Then a quick (really quick) mating session and off for more branches.

We have a small request, which many of you are already fulfilling: when you see something interesting happen, post a comment with a time stamp. This will help us keep track of things we might want to upload as highlights, as well as let other viewers know what’s been happening.

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Loved the comment about the Scottish accent. I am a Scot living in England. Here is an old Scottish way to describe the view over the water at night. “Its a braw bricht moonlit nicht the nicht” or in American “Its a beautiful moonlit night tonight. Great to see how well the nest is coming on. What a busy pair they are. Cant wait to see the eggs. Best wishes from the UK

George and Gracie arrived at the nest bright and early this morning, around 5:30. George delivered a huge half fish to Gracie around 6:30, which she promptly took and flew off. George left soon after. At around 7 and osprey flew into the nest but I couldn’t identify if it was G or G, as it landed and was facing the water in a hunched position. I’m thinking it may have been the intruder, as it quickly left the nest a few minutes later as George flew in immediately after it left. George then proceeded with bringing in more nest materials for awhile, until Gracie came back after finishing her breakfast. An attempt at mating a couple of times, but kind of a half hearted attempt, then he continued gathering nest material. Gracie looks sleepy as she is sitting in the nest and closing her eyes some. Pregnancy is so tiring!!

April 20-Approximately 7:15- A sweet exchange between Gracie and George. Gracie had half a fish and when George arrived at the nest he just kind of stood next to her, looking down at the fish. After a few seconds he made a few squeaks and Gracie released the fish and let George have it. It was just sweet the way they communicated. Sweet!

8:03pmEDT 4/19/16 Gracie came in about 7:55pm and did some work on the bedding and sheeting…She was startled when that large sheet of black seemed to blow up from below and flapped in behind her…guess she decided time for bed..George had been in earlier with a small piece of fish but his honey wasn’t there so he went off to snack..

Poor George. Just scrolling back: At about 4:35 PM, George grabbed a stick from the pile (a BIG stick – you could really see the log … I mean stick … dangling as he flew up!), and flew back to the nest (seemed like he took a round-trip migratory flight path, since it took so long). He tried to position it, but it ended up teeter-tottering on the edge of the nest. When he tried again to move it into place, it fell off the nest (I wonder if it clattered on the roof!).

6:38pmEDT 4/19/16 BETSY..I thought the spelling looked Scottish..or Welsh..lots of w,y,g usage in those languages….and I do say cawfee..was most evident in the few years that I lived in western Maryland..(.some words required an interpreter between my in-laws and me….)
RON S..I got no proBlem with youse guys…I actually Googled it and read the part of the def. that spoke to pronunciation….I’m LI born and bred..Born at Fort Totten and raised on the East End…In fact, some of my best friends sound like that…..(sorry, couldn’t resist that…) Just surprised I never heard that….Thanks for the info….
A beautiful view as the shadows creep in downbelow and the last sun shines off the edge of the nest– 6:56pm

Around 3:50 George delivered a nice fish for Gracie, then he flew off shortly after she did to collect more nesting material. He showed back up about 4:30 with a large stick, that ended up balancing on the edge of the platform. After a couple of minutes he turned around and bit the limb to adjust it, and ended up knocking it over the edge of the nest. The look on his face was priceless!! These birds personalities are wonderful!!!

Poor George: At approx. 12 noon, George flew out of the nest with plastic stuck in his talon. At about 1 PM, George flew back into the nest with plastic still in his talon. Same piece?? Then he flew out of the nest after a few minutes, taking the plastic with him!! Then he returned to the nest after a minute or two with seaweed and the plastic STILL in his talon!! It seemed to be stuck on that first inside toe(?) of his left foot. Then George flew out of the nest after a minute or two, taking the plastic with him!! He returned to the nest after about 20 minutes – NO plastic!! Plastic may be something not to worry about, but still … flying around with a piece stuck on your foot for 1 1/2 hours can’t be much fun!!

Addendum: Why Scotland? (I once dated a guy who’s mother was from Scotland … at times, I could barely understand what she was saying! Especially after she and her sister had a few, OMG, the burr!!!!:) )

CarolV, It is more that just an accent. It is derived from the observation that on every week end, all the GUYS from across the LAND tend to their LAWNS. Ergo, Lawn Guyland.
Youse got a problem wit dat??

…looooove (& no, no problem…hahaha!)…! This is always the best cup o’ cawfee, of the day…thanks, everyone! Smiles…! Dontcha all just wanna give George & Gracie a big hug, for their perseverance & passion?! xO

LOL-I’m from the North Shore of the Island, by way of “da Bronx”. I didn’t know I had an accent until I went to college in Illinois. I got in the cab at the train station to give directions, and maybe had two quick sentences out of my mouth, and the cab driver says: “So, where in New York are you from?” Really, up until then I never knew I had an accent!

Diane S: That’s funny! After CarolV said she looked up Lawn Guyland, I decided I would, too, to see what’s out there. I read that the Lawn Guyland accent is one of the most “GRATING” and “OFFENSIVE” sounds and in need of “REMEDIATION” and “some of the nasal accents of long-time Lawn Guyland residents can strip paint”. True, but harrumph anyway!

I wish we could. I started emailing with someone on this site and she’s sent me some nice pics. I bet a lot of people have some great screen shots that others would probably love to see! I believe the site is still evolving, so maybe one day!!

I copied this from Osprey Camera Blog Osprey Activities @ Nest on MD Eastern Shore (Chesapeake Conservancy Cam) Camera Cam FAQ page (https://ospreycamerablog.wordpress.com/osprey-cam-faq/): “Q: Why is there man-made material in the nest? Is it harmful? A: Don’t be worried! According to Dr. Spitzer, ‘Ospreys often line their nest with a plastic bag, which suggests they have figured out the insulating and moisture-conserving value of sheet plastic.’ Quite clever.”

1:45pmEDT 4/19/16 I’m trying to reply on my phone but it’s suddenly telling me I’m using wrong address..looks the same to me…I noticed other comments I had made haven’t shown up, sooooo…chalk it up to my techlessness
Anyhow, just wanted to reply to BETSY for,first,misspelling your name and then gender error. My face is red…….

1:28pmEDT 4/19/16 I think the G’s have been mating up on the camera perch check about 2 mins, ago,,have noticed this before,,,when the camera’s arockin’ don’t come aknockin’ !!!
Tired of us peeping -toms

It looks like it’s been so windy there — Gracie and George were really wobbling while standing on the nest. Yet, the PLASTIC STAYED, until just now when one piece blew away. Yeah!! Hope Gracie doesn’t find it and bring it back!!

12:12pmEDT 4/19/16 To anyone concerned about “comfort” of G&G’s nest..check out Chesapeake Conservency’s peregrine cam…talk about only the basics!!!! Does anyone know if there is at least a feather liner or something on those stones?

11:49amEDT 4/19/16 We’re starting egg-watch this weekend to celebrate EarthDay…It’s the earliest time frame according to when they started mating..so the optimists among us are counting from the first wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am

8:20amEDT 4/19/16 George was busy this a.m. with seaweed and grass delivery..he must have made a 1/6 doz. deliveries between 6 and 6:30 or so. Breakfast was delivered around 7:30. There seems to be more wing strikes on the microphone/camera assembly than I remember from last year..is it possible the nest is taller?

Just checked in on DC eaglets..they are so aware of what’s going on around them! Being in the trees there must be lots of birds bopping around and they’re watching it all! Their feathers are popping thru that feathery down..growing so fast….

I don’t know if you caught it yesterday but one of the chicks got something caught in his throat and was choking for a good half hour. Mom was very concerned. I wanted to run up the tree and do the Heimlich on him. LOL. As you see it all worked out without my help. Thank goodness.

June B: Oh, that poor baby! I don’t go to that site often, just occasionally to take a quick peek. I think I would be devastated if baby didn’t make it. I’m kind of glad I didn’t see what happened with poor Pee Wee on this site last year.

8:30pmEDT4/18/16 Must be moonshine sparkling on the water..just above edge of nest, slightly right of center…sparkles showing through “fingers” of twigs….Now leading back across water as moon rises…We get the BEST views…….

I’m wondering like some others of you, where Gracie finds this black plastic. Crazy how she is attracted to it. And George has brought a variety today of larger sticks and sea grass. I love watching him scoop out the nest area for the eggs. So interesting. I did notice this afternoon while George was off fishing and Gracie was on the nest that the intruder did a fly by again. She did a good job of shooing him away, and George showed up a few minutes later with a nice size fish for her. I believe it was around 3:20 when the other osprey flew by. I’ve also laughed on and off when George has brought in a larger stick and bumps it into Gracie while trying to place it. So funny. Time to get those large sticks in place and fill in with the sea grass I think!

At 3:35pm watched George arranging center of nest. Just to the right of black bag, his left claw, looking like fishing line stepped on. YEEKS…watched till he was able to fly off thank goodness but that filament is on left large branch. Hope they can maybe bury it with some seaweed of something…….

The Chesapeake Conservancy nest is so neat — no plastic wrap, no other garbage. Looks like George brought in a windshield wiper again, or something that resembles it. GinaM thanked Tommy for leaving out the twigs for George. I had seen a pile on the beach from my monitor, and should’ve realized it was the landlord looking out for his tenants. What a guy!! Yes, I thank you and Paul for everything related to our feathered family. This site is by far the best one around, especially since we can rewind four hours.

George and Gracie have started to build a nest. which is wonderful, but Steve and Rachel have not. appeared briefly, and I hope it will go, come on Steve and Rachel. I have a fear that they go somewhere else, and last year they got after the race eagle chicks. So she would like everything to be in order.

Zina: Steve and Rachel – they’re the ospreys from Maine? I remember watching a video last year in memory of the chicks. (I’m crying now!) I think if I saw something like that on one of the live cams, I would never watch them again! (I know it’s nature, but still …)

Can people stop giving poor George the bum rap about bringing a “windshield wiper” and plastic into the nest?! Over the past couple of days, it was Gracie, NOT George, bringing the plastic. In fact, she brought more today just before 1 PM. And, I don’t know of any wiper blades that are like 6 feet long – it looks more like some kind of plastic lawn/garden edging! Seems to me that a lot of people, even the ones who watched the ospreys last year, still can’t tell George and Gracie apart!! I started viewing this site late last year, shortly before the babies fledged, and I was so confused with people commenting “that was George … I think; no it was Gracie; no that was Ronnie; no it was Sandy”. Sheesh!

So, I’m taking the liberty of re-posting what I posted yesterday, slightly edited:
How to tell George and Gracie apart:
George had both a right chest wound, which appears totally healed and is no longer visible, and a left chest wound, which is almost healed (and, I believe, at one time, scratches down the center of his chest!). The markings on the front of George’s head looks sort of like, to me anyway, looking down on a deformed frog (or a like a shield), while Gracie’s is narrower and more cone-shaped with raggedy edges at the wide end. The markings on the back of George’s head looks like, as I read once somewhere in the comments and aptly describes, an osprey; and Gracie has sort of a dash, then an equal sign (– =) behind the cone, followed by a more rectangular fringe-like patch on the back of hers. On George, there is a mark halfway up in the center of the inside of each his wings, which Gracie doesn’t have. Gracie has a dark mark on the right lateral chest, but not on the left. Both have speckles on their chest, but Gracie has more and they’re darker; and George’s tail is darker. Gracie is more rumpled and patchy-looking, especially her wings. Gracie is – as female ospreys in general are, as per the literature – slightly larger than George. It’s easier to see when they’re together.

Learned last year that we all see things differently…so I chose to go with my own IDs (not always right; I don’t think I ever got comfortable with the who’s who on the kids) and a few others. So take it with a grain of salt and don’t stress…We all mean well..I like that you have good intel…Thanks…

Sorry! Don’t mean to sound curmudgeonly! But, I like to know who’s who for sure. And, I think, when a person is new to the site and someone’s calling x by this name and someone else is calling x by that name … well, it can be so very, very confusing. They just look so different to me! Maybe the site needs an ID page like on other sites have!

Maybe George WILL bring a windshield wiper blade to the nest – but I really hope not!!! (It’s enough with the plastic!!)

June C: You’re right. When I was growing up, we were friends with the “S” family who had twin boys. Mrs. S could tell instantaneously which twin was which, from the front, back, or side, but Mr. S usually had trouble. She would get so annoyed with him!

Yes, their Facebook page confirmed the first egg. Did you follow that nest last year? Their eggs did not hatch but the pair was given foster chicks that they raised successfully along with a young bird who showed up and stayed.

6:15am 4/18/16 Gracie showed up about 5:15am George swooped in about 5:45 with seaweed in tow., said a few words, mated and took off. Just now, Gracie’s yelling alerted me as I type, that George was back with her 1/2 of a fish…She “quietly” accepted it and took off, leaving George to check out the view….
Am I wrong ..isn’t that about the same place we had a plastic flag flapping in the breeze last year? I remember it annoyed me then too

Gracie arrives at nest and seems to arrive from perch. A while later I heard the same noises as before, kind of a clanking, and then George arrives from the perch. I guess they’re both spending some of the night on perch?

Hi there! I could have sworn I’ve visited this site before but
after browsing through some of the posts I realized it’s new
to me. Anyways, I’m definitely delighted I found it and I’ll be bookmarking it
and checking back regularly!

George and Gracie have really been working on the nest today. And yes, it does look like George found a windshield wiper! (Where does he find these things?!!) Around 6pm George brought a half fish to the nest. Gracie wasn’t her usual chatty self, and sat patiently as George ate a bit, then fed her some. Really sweet. I don’t believe I’ve seen them do that before.

It seems to me that the nest will be smaller this year because of all the large sticks that are on the left side preventing the size of the nest further to the left side. On the left side the bottom of the platform and the railing are visible as I recall last year the nest covered the entire platform and covered all the railings. I saw George was trying to move that very large branch earlier today and I think that branch has been in a different place in the nest by maybe an inch or so but it is now practically in the middle of the nest. It looks like about 1/3 of the platform has so many large sticks in that area that it is now unusable . These sticks are now so tangled together I don’t think George can move them . Just an observation on my part.

Beautiful day! Both George and Gracie are working on the nest a lot today. George brought another whole fish to Gracie about 1:20, which she quickly took and flew off to enjoy. Around 3:00 Gracie was in the nest alone, and I’m wondering if it was the intruder that tried to land on the nest, as Gracie flew up a bit and shooed it away. The nest is really taking shape!

I’ve been only seeing George working on the nest, mating with Gracie, and bringing her fish, although there was an intruder briefly on the nest yesterday morning eyeing a partial fish left there until he/she flew away when Gracie came back and landed on perch.

How to tell George and Gracie apart:
George had both a right chest wound, which appears totally healed and is no longer visible, and a left chest wound, which is almost healed (and, I believe, at one time, scratches down the center of his chest!) – poor George; I guess he really loves Gracie! (ha ha) The markings on the front of George’s head looks like, to me, sort of like looking down on a deformed frog (or a like a shield), while Gracie’s is narrower and more cone-shaped with raggedy edges at the wide end. The markings on the back of George’s head looks like, as I read once somewhere in the comments and aptly describes, an osprey; and Gracie has a dash, then an equal sign (– =) behind the cone, followed by a more rectangular fringe-like patch on the back of hers. On George, there is a mark halfway up in the center of the inside of each his wings, which Gracie doesn’t have. Both have speckles on their chest, but Gracie has more and they’re darker; George’s tail is darker. Gracie is more rumpled looking. PLUS, if you haven’t noticed, Gracie is nearly always, to be kind, chattering!!

4/17/163:22pmEDT For Richard Russo..I just subscribed about an hour ago and am already done with it…the comments are good but the 2 inches of computer lanquage is a pain. On my computer I scrolled to the end of an e-mail and hit “unsubscribe..see if that works….also, make sure to uncheck the boxes beneath “post comment” box on site. Hope this works for both of us….

You should be thankful you get them :)) I don’t for some reason. Anyway right below the ” Post Comment ” box are 2 notify me boxes. Make sure they are not checked. If they are not checked and you still get the e-mails then I can’t be of much help because no one answers me on how TO get them.

4/17/16 1:00pmEDT I noticed what looked to be some kind of metal channeling in the right lower corner…you can see it plainly around 12:30pm. It looks like it was there for awhile, but is now pushed over and down..is this the current substitute for wiper blades?

Sunday morning 4-17-16 Gracie and George play tug-of-war with half of fish I hope everyone saw it went on for quite a while. It doesn’t appear that they post any comments over the weekend so by the time you get this it’ll be too late to scroll back.
Does everyone remember how last year Gracies feed George the fish when she had the babies and he brought in the whole fish? I thought maybe she was going to do that when George brought a whole fish yesterday instead she just took off with the whole thing Lots of people said George was not an experience provider since it was the first time he mated and had babies with Gracie, so he didn’t know to eat the head off first before bringing the fish to the nest.
But he’s been eating the head off and brings in the half fish to Gracie except for twice now 2 days in a row I’ve seen him bring her a whole fish then he waits around to see if she is going to give him some but she doesn’t she takes off with the whole thing.

Sunday around 11:00 am 4-17-16 This is hilarious the little birds that always make a nest under the osprey nest one of the birds keeps taking George’s straw,seaweed and hay or dry grass and taking it down and making the nest underneath big Osprey nest it’s so funny keeps coming up and getting pieces that he can carry off and then he comes back hilarious. George is going to have to get more soft cushiony material the little birds are stealing all of it for their nest only thing they can lift up he’s going to come back and say what happened I just clean this nest where did all my bedding material go George has been working on the nest all day. He might just think Gracie did some re-organizing.

April-17- At approximately 6:55 am. Gracie brings in a fish to the nest while George is on perch. George jumps down to get the fish from Gracie and they had quite a tug of war going on. George eventually got the fish and flew back up to the perch with it.

I noticed the comment about the sparrows- I saw them also. I take my boat out of the Mattituck inlet and noticed that the nests there have MULTIPLE sparrows nesting in each one. ALSO- Just watched Gina M’s compilation of last year. GREAT JOB!!!!!!!!!!!! Those of you who haven’t seen it, go look! And make sure your sound is on- ESPECIALLY if you love Janis Joplin!!!! http://ospreyzone.com/summer-2015-gina-m/

It is 10:30 a.m. (EST) After hours of both George and Gracie moving a clump of twigs around the nest but they were not happy with it in any part of the nest. They moved it around for hours and just when it looked like it was in place the wind blew it out of the nest about 10 a.m. It was very funny to watch them keep moving it around. It was in the nest when I scrolled back 4 hours (6:30 a.m.) So that clump was moved around for at least 4 hours. A lot of time ,energy and determination went into positioning that clump of twigs and the wind blew it away!!!

Good morning CarolV. Its Saturday 10 am.
I have been thinking. ……..Nothing ever happened about our grandiose idea of getting together. Most of our Osprey “family” are too far away. I understand that.
You and I live close. I am in Ronkonkoma. I would love to see you …. maybe lunch on a Sat or Sun. I could meet you in Riverhead ??????
My only problem is how to make contact with you. I am not too keen on broadcasting phone numbers or e-mail addresses via this “Post Comment” system.
Any ideas? Have a relaxing week-end. Rodee H.

7:10amEDT 4/16/16 Activity started early..saw the arrival of that wad of stalks about 6:15ish..that spot was carefully chosen, not an accident to put it square in the middle..hope that is reconsidered…Fis arrival about 6:50..you an see Geo coming in with Gra hotfooting in after him…Geo managed a few mins. rest in the nest without being screamed at..Gra must have gotten up on the right side of her bed (limb)…….

Did the camera get knocked over to the left ? I think the nest was centered more before the George & Gracie came back ? I know I’m nit picking but I love watching these two ! So happy they are back. Is it really George and Gracie from last year ? Keep up the good work to the great people that make this happen…..OUR FAMILY WATCHES EVERYDAY !!!!!

Elizabeth Raftery, I knew some where I had posted a discription of what I was seeing in 2 different males. As I was looking back to find it I saw your reply . It may be the light or the wind messing with the darker feathers on his forehead. Do you think there is only one male now ? I never get notifications so sometimes I am missing posts and the moderator does not reply.

Just another tee hee moment…2:57pm, Gracie chirping her lungs out, George shows up with a nice whole fish, Gracie grabs and takes off, just Love watching a kind of expression on George’s face, like, Oh, well, might as well keep working on this place”, which he is doing! LOL and hugs to all

2:30 PM Major uh-oh – Just scrolling back tape to view ospreys. At about 10 minutes before 1 PM, George brought Gracie a fish. When she went to fly away with it, it looks like she got tangled in some type of cord. I hope we don’t eventually have a tragedy like the pictures shown in environment section!! Very concerned.

Love to read all the comments, thanks to all for the wonderful observations. I am not very good at identifying George, Gracie and the intruder. I read a comment a while back stating that George has a wound is on his right and the Intruder’s wound is on his left. I have noticed that the Osprey that is tending to the nest, always alone, has the wound on the left. I also noticed that when there are two Ospreys in the nest, probably G & G, one Osprey has a wound on the right. Are they apartment sharing?

NJD , That is exactly what I have been seeing also along with another identifying mark that tells me who is who. It has not always been George in the nest or mating with Gracie. She seems to except them both. I guess if one provider is good then two is better :)))) I may be totally off but for now that is what I see.

George had a wound a week ago on the right side of his breast and the other male had one on his left. But those healed rather quickly. Now George has one under his left wing that is still visible. I haven’t seen the intruder male actually in the nest for several days. I’ve seen a third osprey fly by when G and G were both in the nest, and have felt like there is one close by sometimes due to the actions of our two. Hope this helped a bit.

4?15?16 7:50amEDT Checked in to see how great the nest looks(more grasses) and all the new comments..good to see how many people are checking in..but can’t go thru all, as today is TAXDAY…and I procrastinate…will have to catch up later…wrong season but I still say Bah Humbug !!!!!!

9:27amEDT OK Realized priorities and put this ahead of taxes…enjoyed all the posts and getting caught up..seems like TOM is gone? and G&G are getting their priorities in order..
now what else can I do to” drag my feet “? I know, print coupons! or something……………

April 15- About 7 am- Gracie is in nest squawking and George arrives. Both George and Gracie are silent yet you can clearly hear another osprey and both George and Gracie look up towards the perch. I think there was another bird on that perch!!

I scrolled back, and around 12:45 p.m. George was really busy working on the nest. He brought up a lot of twigs and also straw, to make the nest soft. After doing all that, he actually laid down on it, pushing with his legs extended backward, to make a nice, soft area. I guess for the eggs and babies. Nature is just amazing. Then, they mated one more time for good luck.
Does anyone know how long it will be until Gracie lays the eggs? How about how long it takes to hatch? I believe the hatching is staggered, so that they are not all born at the same time. Thanks in advance for our answers.
I also checked out that ERaftery posted that showed ospreys fishing. Thanks for the info. They are just unbelievable fishers! I’m glad I’m not a fish in Ospreyland, ha-ha.

9:22amEDT Hi! Previous posters had kindly informed me that it’s 19-22 days..that means to the truly optimistic, egg watch starts next week for Earth Day weekend..I’ll be watching…and as someone else pointed out..G&G have been SOOOO busy, there should be about 600 eggs….

This was too funny, not sure of the time but it is 4-14-16 Thursday. George was of course doing maintenance to the nest and he kept hitting poor Gracie with this stick and it kept making her whole behind go up in the air.. wonder if she thought Geo was trying a new mating position. Did anyone else get a chance to see this I do have a pic if anyone wants to see.

The big stick was put there as an anchor and it has been used as one. We had a nest near us several years ago with no anchor &the nest blew away at every big wind storm. I notified someone and now that nest has big anchoring sticks & does not fly away anymore.

Thank you sooo much for all the info. Have Ben watching since last year the good and the bad
So happy they have returned and finally there is a small soft spot for the eggs
I am so looking forward to the next generation and keep coming with the comments, thank you again
To everybody

April 14, As of 8:05 am Not much has happened. George has done a little nest building and currently Gracie is sitting in nest squawking a little bit. I think she’s hungry. Also, large piece of plastic flew out of nest and landed on the beach. I hope George doesn’t find it again and bring it back.

10:08pmEDT( Way past my bedtime!) Just took a look at Sand Point cam and the difference is startling,,backgrounds< I mean! Our sea view is constantly changing while the ballfield looks like a painted backdrop…it will be amusing if I manage to tune in when a game is on the field! It's amazing that the birds are unfazed by that kind of activity, but I can't tell how high that platform is….

Regretfully I didn’t note the time, but seems like it was around noon, George and Gracie are both in the nest, watching something very intensely, and loud chirping is constant. Then the “other” male does a fly over and flies away. He is truly persistent! Just happy that George and Gracie are so well bonded and working together to protect their nest. I did notice what looks like a wound under George’s left wing. Seems to be healing, though, and hopefully if it is a wound it will be the last one. It may have been something else, but I noticed it several times, and it seemed to have a pink color to it.

I saw that too and got a video of that fly by. I also noticed the apparent wound on George, which made me question whether it was really him. I am assuming it was and hope that this wound clears up as quickly as the last one. George and Gracie are a very interesting pair to watch and I basically have them on my computer all day long. My cat enjoys them too. 🙂

4/13/16 7:53pmEDT Haven’t had the chance to log in much..missing all the drama!! I didn’t watch last year at this bonding. building period and wonder if anyone remembers any rivalry at that time…..
At the Cutchogue Verizon nest, a friend watches thru his camera lens and says there is a rival male hanging around there too. Wonder whether this is all standard or if there is just a shortage of platforms and empty towers…..
And thank you, Jim B., for posting the eagle videos. Breathtaking to see them in flight!!!!.